What’s that bright thing in the sky over Miami?

Is it a comet? Is it a star? Or is it Superman? After what seemed like weeks of cloudiness due to a string of hurricanes, I have witnessed "The Sun". It has become a strange although welcome sight in the Sunshine State. Complaining about a permanent cloudy skies seems selfish when our neighbors to the South are complaining of power outages, leaky roofs, flooding and complete pandemonium. Thus far this year the odds have been against the Cubans and the other Caribbean islands as they have received the brunt of at least three recent major hurricanes.

The word here is that calamities such as these have been known to push for change in Cuba in the past, so the hope is that more doors could be opened as a result of all the recent storms. The Cuban government has refused any help from the US but with this last hurricane they may change their minds. Let’s hope it happens for the sake of the people. Of course change is bound to happen after our next election in November. Quicker if the underdog wins. However, if the favorite of the moral majority and the Cuban hard-liners wins as I’m beginning to suspect, we’re going to need more than a few storms to get any significant change in Cuban-American relations in the next 4 years.

After almost six months living in Miami, I have a feeling that I’m beginning to feel more concerned with what happens south of the Strait of Florida than I am with what happens in Washington. It’s part of the Miami culture.

As far as we were concerned, the storm was mostly a cloud and mild wind event. B and I were visiting my parents north of Orlando, FL and were watching the storm on TV like everyone else. We drove back to Miami on Monday night and as we stepped out of the car, we could feel the strong winds coming into the parking garage. Of course, the winds are much stronger on the water front, and even more so in between the high risers. The next day, still cloudy and somewhat windy, but I didn’t find any evidence of damage on the streets or the houses. We dodged the bullet once again.

I’m beginning to think that the “snowbirds” Canadians have figured something out. They spend the whole hurricane season in cool Quebec, and come back when it gets too cold in Canada and it’s the nicest here. Seems like a perfect combination, I’ll have to look into that.